Paintings by Barrie Ontario Artist
J. David Murphy

RAINBOW COUNTRY

October 2-29, 2014

ARTIST STATEMENT

“The area south of Espanola known as the La Cloche Hills -or locally as Rainbow Country, yields up some of the most spectacular scenery in Northern Ontario -forests, mountains, beaver swamps, bogs, rock cuts, lakes, ponds, streams… I like the latter name as it suggests the colours of this scenery that inspire a colourist like me. Many Canadians are unfamiliar with this part of Ontario, but some of the Group of Seven certainly knew it - notably one of my heroes, Frank Carmichael. Most of the paintings in this exhibition are loosely based on my photos taken in the region.”

ABOUT THE ARTIST

David Murphy is a retired lawyer, high court judge and law professor. He started experimenting with oil painting while a law student, inspired by Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. As a lawyer practising commercial litigation in Toronto, he led a “secret life” taking art classes, and showing his work in juried collective exhibitions.

While a law professor in Hong Kong, he experimented with watercolour and Chinese brush painting. He also developed a research specialty in art law, and authored a book on the legal aspects of the trade in Chinese art, published by Oxford University Press.

Since retiring, he has exhibited his paintings regularly at the prestigious LaCloche Art Show, Tom Thomson Days Juried Exhibition, and the Northern Ontario Art Association Exhibition. In Malta his work has appeared in the Arts Club Exhibition, the Collective Gozitan Art Exhibition (under the auspices of the European Parliament), the Collective Exhibition of Gozitan and Foreign Artists, the Eden Foundation Collective Art Exhibition, and “Lejlet Lapsi – Notte Gozitana” Art Exhibition.

Mr. Murphy has had two prior solo exhibitions in Canada –in northern Ontario (2005) and in Muskoka  (2007); and two in Malta –in Victoria (2004) for the Government of Malta, and in Vittoriosa (2009) for the municipal government. He will present solo exhibitions at Beaux-Arts Brampton and at Urban Gallery in Toronto in 2014. Most recently he was Guest Artist at Peter Street Fine Arts Gallery in Orillia in 2013.

Notable government and corporate collections:
Ministry of the Attorney General – Ontario, Canada
Royal Victoria Hospital – Barrie, Ontario
Blake, Cassels & Graydon – Toronto, Ontario
Espanola Regional Hospital and Health Centre – Espanola, Ontario
Government of Malta – Ministry for Gozo
Honorary Canadian Consul in Malta – Valletta, Malta